A LitRPG Adventure.
Book 1: The Code is Mightier than the Sword (Complete)
The CIA recruits Jason Hawthorne to play a new virtual reality MMORPG and collect a powerful magical crystal before criminals working in the game can get it. After he succeeds, his friends are kidnapped, and he is trapped in the game.
The kidnappers want the crystal, but as he levels up, adds a powerful wolf and vampire to his party, and starts breaking the game, they want everything about him. He will face giants, demons, orcs, hookers, and international terrorists while trying to figure out this game he's never played before.
Eventually, he will have to decide if the friends he has made in the game are just as valuable as the ones he has in real life.
Book 2: By Blade or by Bow (Actively posting)
The CIA is alerted that four regular players are kidnapped, tortured, and held for ransom. The clock is ticking before the torture gets bad enough that unplugging the players and potentially lobotomizing them may be the best option. Jace is tasked with the rescue mission, but he needs a bigger party before he can pull it off.
Jace needs to find the best crafter and best archer in the game and needs to break the rules even more than before to do it. But will these new companions get along with the ones he already has? Jace is used to his plans going off without a hitch, but when they start failing and disaster ensues, will his dysfunctional group of powerful characters be able to put aside their differences long enough to help their leader pull off the impossible?
This story has a lot going for it. The problem-solving, interesting combat, constant banter, and character interaction is way above the level I was expecting. Esther and Jace make a great team. The intense, strategic focus of Jace plays well against the carefree attitude of his vampire companion, which makes them one of the better literary duos I've come across.
The story might start a little slow as Jace gets his bearings in the new game, but it picks up fast and is definitely worth a read.
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